


True To Your Heart

by reminiscingintherain



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alpha!Niall, Alpha!liam, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, M/M, Mulan AU, Mulan with a twist I guess haha, Omega!Harry, alpha!louis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:14:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25808680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reminiscingintherain/pseuds/reminiscingintherain
Summary: The world was at war with itself.In the small country of Enilenif, in a tiny, often overlooked corner of the world, young Alphas were quickly signing up to fight, desperate to protect their Omegas and their country as Aidem began to attack their borders. A few defiant Omegas tried to enlist as well, but were firmly turned away with disapproving looks by the staff in the office.Harry Styles was one such Omega, sighing heavily as he kicked at a small stone on his walk home.~~~~Or, the Mulan AU.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan/Shawn Mendes, Zayn Malik/Liam Payne
Comments: 11
Kudos: 185
Collections: Disney Direction Fic Fest 2020





	1. Like A Lotus Blossom (Soft and Pale)

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe it's actually here! At last!
> 
> A huge shout out to the lovely [Rebecca](https://runaway-train-works.tumblr.com/) for being so patient, when I promised this would take a few days, and has actually taken a few weeks ::facepalm::
> 
> As always, tons of love to the Panic Room GC for your encouragement and support.
> 
> Masses of love to [Lynda](https://wait4ever.tumblr.com/) and [Evi](https://evilovesyou.tumblr.com/) for your amazing beta work on this hot mess.
> 
> Title of the fic from True To Your Heart by 98° and Stevie Wonder from the original animated film.
> 
> Chapter title from Honor To Us All from the original animated film.

The world was at war with itself. 

As political squabbles had broken out in governmental meetings over the role of Omegas in the world, tensions had increased, until the leader of Aidem, Swen Ekaf, lost his temper and pressed the button, deploying troops into the closest neighbouring country, with the aim of taking over. It was the trigger the world had seemingly been waiting for, as fights broke out in most countries overnight.

In the small country of Enilenif, in a tiny, often overlooked corner of the world, young Alphas were quickly signing up to fight, desperate to protect their Omegas and their country as Aidem began to attack their borders. A few defiant Omegas tried to enlist as well, but were firmly turned away with disapproving looks by the staff in the office.

Harry Styles was one such Omega, sighing heavily as he kicked at a small stone on his walk home. His big sister, Gemma, had been one of the first in line to enlist, clutching her presentation certificate proudly, and their Alpha mother Anne supportively at her side, while Harry was kept at home with their Beta stepfather, Robin. All Harry wanted to do was go out and help fight for his country. He knew there was a chance of dying; he wasn’t stupid. But he felt so passionately about the cause, about making Omega voices heard, about standing up and being counted, not just being left at home to look after the house and kids… (he wasn’t even sure if he wanted kids, not that he’d shared that particular tidbit of information with anyone, not even his fairly liberal mum).

Times were getting desperate, as their little country struggled to match the might and strength of the larger and wealthier countries, all of whom had a stronger Alpha base from which to select their armies. Harry had tried to enlist for the third time, because he knew that it was getting closer to the point where people were conscripted, rather than voluntarily signing up, and he knew that if Anne got the call, she would be honour-bound to do so, despite her arthritic hip and ankle - the result of her relationship with Harry and Gemma’s father.

“I’m home!” he called as he let himself in through the front door and dropped his key in the bowl at the side. “Once again, my designation is not what they’re looking for,” he continued, shrugging out of his jacket and hanging it up, before he made his way through the house to the kitchen. “This time, I didn’t even get the suggestion of keeping an eye on the news,  _ just in case _ , like the last couple times. I reckon, if his boss hadn’t been right behind him, he’d have told me to fuck off back to the kitchen.” Harry sighed heavily and stopped dead as he noticed Anne and Robin sat at the kitchen table, both visibly upset, and a letter between them. “No…” Harry breathed out slowly.

“Sweetheart,” Anne started, her voice cracking halfway through the word.

“No, no, Mum, you can’t!” Harry said desperately, crossing to kneel on the floor beside her. “Your hip won’t allow for the movements, and you can’t sleep on the ground,” he babbled, clutching at her hand tightly.

“Harry—” she tried to interrupt.

“Mum, no! Robin, can’t you do something?” Harry looked to his stepfather, who had yet to say anything.

“I’m sorry, H,” he murmured, looking equally as dejected. “The letter’s come directly from the President herself.”

“It’s not fair!” Harry shouted as he leapt to his feet and started to pace the small room angrily, running a somewhat shaky hand through his hair. “How can they ask this? They must have your records, know what you’ve been through, surely?”

“It says that the chances of combat are small,” Anne said weakly. “I’m really only being called up as a precaution.” She gave him a small smile. “Maybe I’ll get lucky and be posted with Gem?”

Harry felt his anger deflate and his shoulders dropped. He sighed heavily and crossed back to Anne’s side, slipping his arms around her.

“When do you have to go?” he asked quietly.

“Train leaves first thing,” she mumbled into his shoulder. “They’ve even sent my ticket, so at least I don’t have to pay.”

Harry had been about to point out that mornings were hardest for Anne, as her hip tended to stiffen up overnight and make getting going difficult, but as he caught sight of the look of fear in her eyes, that she was obviously trying to hide from her youngest, he bit his tongue, and offered an attempt at a reassuring smile.

“It’ll be okay, Mum,” he murmured. “It’ll all be over soon, that’s what everyone’s saying. You’ll be back before you’re even sent out.”

“Exactly,” Robin agreed. “That’s exactly what I said.”

“You’re both incredibly shitty liars,” Anne told them flatly, before she hiccuped on a laugh. “But thank you for trying.”

••••

The family had a quiet evening, as Robin cooked their meal while Anne packed a small case with the essentials, and Harry kept her company. They ate together, and all retired to bed early, in preparation for the early morning.

Or at least, Anne and Robin retired to bed. Harry stayed up, quietly packing his own bag and checking a few things online. Once he was sure that his parents were asleep, he snuck into their room and carefully disabled the alarms that had been set for the morning. He gazed at his Mum for a few moments, one hand clutching an envelope containing a letter explaining his actions.

He stiffened slightly as Anne began to stir, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to move away in time.

“Harry?” she mumbled sleepily. “What are you doing, baby?”

“Sorry,” he murmured. “I didn’t mean to wake you. Go back to sleep.”

“You need anything?” Anne started to push herself upright.

“No, no,” he said quickly. “I’m just going to bed. You get some sleep.”

“If you’re sure?” she asked uncertainly.

“I promise,” he assured her, waiting for her to settle back down. “I love you, Mum.”

“I love you too, sweetie,” she sighed.

Harry waited for a few moments as her breathing evened out again, before he propped the envelope up on the bedside table, biting his lip as he stepped back quietly. Just as he turned to leave the room, he caught sight of Robin watching him. Harry froze, his eyes widening in momentary fear, before Robin slowly nodded in approval, acceptance, support? Harry wasn’t completely sure, but it was obviously a positive thing, so he simply nodded in response, and left the bedroom quietly.

After grabbing his bag from his room, Harry made his way downstairs. He found the letter with the train ticket on the kitchen table where Anne had left it and slipped it into his bag. He pulled a bottle of water from the fridge, took a deep breath, and after a final look around his childhood home, he quietly left.

He walked quickly down the road towards one of the 24 hour pharmacies - he would be visiting all three of them before he needed to get to the train station, so time was definitely of the essence. He stepped inside and up to the counter, giving the sleepy-looking attendant the once over, before grabbing toothpaste and a toothbrush off the shelf.

“This, and some scent neutralisers and suppressants, please,” he mumbled.

“What strength?” the attendant sighed, forcing themselves to their feet.

“High.”

Without another word, the attendant scanned everything through the till.

“That’ll be £35.40, please.”

Harry handed over some cash, then shoved his purchases into his bag, mumbling a thanks before he left.

After withdrawing some more cash from the machine outside, he moved onto the next pharmacy where he picked up neutralising spray as well as the drugs, and the last one after that where he got shampoo and the drugs before he made his way to the train station. Harry slipped into the toilets and stripped down, covering his body with the neutralising spray, before getting dressed in different, clean clothes, and quickly taking a double dose of the scent suppressants. Taking a deep breath, he put his dirty clothes in the bin, then grabbed his bag and left to find the correct platform.

As he waited, he noticed a small number of Alphas, along with their Omegas, starting to gather along the length of the platform. Biting his lip, Harry pulled his phone from his pocket and started playing Candy Crush, trying to ignore everything that was happening around him, especially when he glanced over to see one of the Omega girls he went to school with, standing alongside her Alpha father, who was holding a letter much like the one tucked away in Harry’s bag.

Soon enough, the train pulled up alongside the platform. Harry shoved his phone in his pocket and pressed the button to open the door in front of him. He jumped on and settled himself into the corner seat of a table, slipping his earbuds in and closing his eyes, hoping to ward away any potential for conversation.

As his music played quietly in his ears, it was suddenly interrupted as the phone buzzed quietly across the table with an incoming call. Harry grimaced, seeing his mum’s name on the screen, but answered carefully.

“Hello?”

“Harry Edward Styles, what do you think you’re doing?!” Anne admonished, her words harsher than the tone they were delivered with. “I’ve only just woken up - all of my alarms were turned off - and there’s a letter here from you just saying ‘sorry Mum, I had to’... what am I supposed to do with this?”

“I’m sorry, Mum,” Harry murmured, his eyes filling with tears. “I couldn’t let you go.”

“Harry, darling,” Anne said softly. “It’s not your place either. How are you going to manage?”

“I got some stuff,” he mumbled. “I just need to get through training. It’ll be fine.”

The whistle blew loudly from the platform and the train doors closed with a hiss.

“Oh, my baby,” Anne choked. “You’re on the train already, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, we’re just leaving now,” Harry whispered. “I’ll talk to you soon, Mum. Let you know how it’s going.”

“You stay safe, Harry Styles, you hear me?” Anne demanded. “Find your sister if you can, and look after each other.” She hiccuped quietly as the train began to move. “I love you so much, my brave, reckless, darling boy.”

“I love you too, Mum,” Harry replied quietly. “Bye.”

He hung up slowly and rested his head against the window, watching the scenery pass by as the train made its way south, towards the capital city, the training academy, and his uncertain future.

••••

A few hours later, Harry was jostled awake by a hand on his shoulder. He jumped up and looked around wildly.

“Easy, soldier,” chuckled a soft voice. “Just thought you’d wanna be awake for when we get into the station.”

“Oh, uh, thanks,” Harry mumbled, rubbing at his eyes as he glanced around.

The sun was high in the sky, signalling that it was after noon, and the scenery had been replaced with skyscrapers and buildings, with nary a tree in sight.

“I’m Liam,” the friendly person who’d woken him said, holding out a hand.

“Harry,” Harry replied. “Uh, good to meet you.”

“You too,” Liam nodded. “I didn’t ever think about signing up or whatever, but when the letter came…” he trailed off with a shrug. “Didn’t really want to leave my husband though.” He sighed heavily.

“Your husband?” Harry asked, raising an eyebrow slightly. He was fully aware that same sex relationships happened, but they weren’t particularly prevalent in his small hometown. His mum and Robin’s relationship - as an Alpha/Beta mix - was the most ‘outrageous’ they’d seen, and that was still considered relatively normal due to the heterosexual aspect. The idea that two men could actually be married was completely blowing his mind wide open.

“Yeah,” Liam nodded. “Zayn’s about five months pregnant with our second child, so here’s hoping I’m back in a couple of months, right?” he added with a forced smile.

“Wait, pregnant?” Harry stared openly, because this was definitely the first time he’d personally known of any male pregnancy.

Liam blinked slowly at him.

“He’s an Omega,” he said slowly. “That’s what happens?” He widened his eyes slightly as Harry continued to look blank. “Mate, have you even had the talk about the birds and the bees?”

“Yeah, but I, uh, I come from Eroda,” Harry offered weakly. “We’re small, and we don’t have many male Omegas… let alone same-sex partners.”

“Ohhh,” Liam nodded in understanding. “Yeah, I’ve heard that they’re kinda reclusive and small.” He clapped a hand on Harry’s shoulder as the train pulled to a halt in the station. “Stick with me, kid. I’ll teach you the whos and whats of it all.”


	2. (Mysterious As) The Dark Side of the Moon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from I'll Make A Man Out Of You from the original animated film.

“You’re a disgrace, Captain. You’re not fit to wear this uniform.”

Captain Louis Tomlinson clenched his jaw, forcing himself to keep his mouth shut and not retaliate, as his superior’s assistant - not even his actual boss! - stood in the tent in front of him, tearing a strip off of him over the state of the last bunch of recruits.

“Your mother would be ashamed of you, you are nothing like her,” Dan sneered, glancing at the tablet in his arm. “And Master Cowell has entrusted me with monitoring you for the next intake. Because you are going to be leading them into the war.”

“Don’t talk about my mother,” Louis gritted out. “I won’t argue the monitoring. But I will absolutely pull every string I can to get you removed if you dare mention her ever again.”

“If you insist,” Dan sniffed, tapping at the screen. “But rest assured this will be noted in my report to Master Cowell.”

“Crack on, Wootton,” Louis sighed, suddenly tired of the whole thing. “I’ll talk to you later.”

With a huff, Dan turned and flounced out of the tent, leaving Louis rubbing at his face and resting his elbows on his desk. He glanced down over the list of names in front of him, showing him who had entered the camp that morning. These were the last of the forcibly enlisted - once these had gone through, there were no more Alphas available. There was talk - whispers, rumours, gossip behind closed doors - that the draft was going to be extended to Betas and Omegas, but the idea of having mixed designations in the army was, in his opinion, a recipe for disaster. Omegas were a distraction, especially when it came to their heats, which from what Louis had seen in his sisters, were practically uncontrollable.

So, this last group, they were the last hope. Louis let out a low groan as he leaned back in his chair, rubbing his hands over his face. This was going to be hell.

••••

Settling into the training camp was surprisingly easy. Harry had always been reasonably personable, so he found that making friends came naturally. The training began almost immediately, and that’s where he thought the discrepancies between his designation as an Omega would become more obvious alongside the Alphas, but it soon became apparent that these were not the healthiest of Alphas - having been conscripted rather than volunteering - and they were struggling every bit as much as Harry.

The only one of their battalion who was seemingly finding the whole process simple was Liam, who was one of the most laid back people that Harry had ever met. The other Alpha who shared their room was Niall, a cheerful lad with a strong accent, and the serious case of heart eyes whenever his Omega, Shawn, was mentioned.

That the two Alphas he was rooming with both had male Omegas was a bit of a mindfuck to Harry, but he’d managed to pass off a lot of his lack of knowledge as backward rural ignorance, so he was learning a lot from the older two, even about his own physiology. Taking his suppressants quickly became a ritual, every morning and night before he brushed his teeth, and excused as vitamins.

The only fly in the ointment as far as Harry could tell was his Captain.

Captain Louis Tomlinson, the youngest Captain that the country of Enilenif had ever seen, was an unexplainable force. Upon first glance, one would assume that he was more of an Omega than Harry. Captain Tomlinson was slight, with a slim waist and defined curves, while Harry was tall and gangly, with broad shoulders and pigeon-toed feet. However, Captain Tomlinson practically oozed Alpha-ness. From his scent to his stance to the way he commanded every room he entered, he was the quintessential Alpha, and he had managed to make his way into Harry’s dreams at night, more often than he cared to think about.

“Soldiers!” his voice carried across the training ground. “We are due to move out in approximately ten days! You are nowhere near battle ready, and if you can’t get your asses into shape by then, you will be going home on a dishonourable discharge!” He looked around at them, frowning in concentration, before he sighed. “You can do us proud, the army, and our country. You need to apply yourselves, and focus on the training I’m offering. I have faith in you, and in what we’re doing here.” He ran a hand through his hair briefly, then straightened his posture again. “But we need to work together, and we need to prove that we are worthy of our uniforms.”

“I feel like we should be cheering,” Niall whispered to Harry and Liam.

“It does seem like it needs some reinforcement,” Harry agreed quietly.

“Shush, both of you,” Liam muttered.

“... but one of the main things I ask is that you actually _pay attention_ when I’m talking, instead of chatting among yourselves!” Captain Tomlinson finished loudly, glaring pointedly in their direction. “You!” He pointed at Harry. “Name?”

“Uh, Styles, sir,” Harry stammered. “Harry Styles. From Eroda.”

“Eroda?” Captain Tomlinson pulled a face. “Well, I suppose _someone_ has to live there.” He sniffed disdainfully. “So, what was so important that you needed to be talking when I was?”

“Uh, well, Niall and I were just saying that we felt that your speech was in need of some support, sir,” Harry half-stammered.

“Support?” Captain Tomlinson raised an incredulous eyebrow.

“In the form of cheering, sir,” Niall cheerfully interjected. “Because it was an incredibly rousing speech, and we felt, both Harry and I, that you really should’ve had some positive reinforcement for it.”

Captain Tomlinson looked at them both in what appeared to be stunned silence for a few moments, before he turned on his heel and returned to his position at the front of the troops, as though he had never been distracted at all.

“We will be leaving here tomorrow, to make our way to the first camp ten miles away,” he called out. “There, you will all complete your final training, and then your testing, which I expect all of you to pass with flying colours. From there, we will march towards the second base, a further fifteen miles on. We will join the sixth regiment, and that will be our base of operations, until we are required to fight on the front lines. Do you all understand?”

A murmur of agreement rippled through the troops.

“Right,” he nodded firmly. “Now fall out, and return to your lodgings. You will need rest tonight, as we will be leaving promptly at 0500 tomorrow.”

With that, he turned on his heel and marched firmly off to his quarters, leaving the troops to sort themselves out.

“Well, that was exciting, wasn’t it, lads?” Niall asked, grinning at Harry and Liam.

“If you want to call what was basically an order to go fight, exciting, then yeah, I guess so,” Liam sighed. “I was really hoping to avoid actual active duty.”

“I guess we’d better go pack?” Harry suggested, scratching the back of his neck. “I mean, we gotta get ready, right?”

“That we have, young Harold, that we have,” Niall nodded sagely. “Last one packed has to tidy the room before we leave in the morning,” he added, suddenly darting towards the barracks, leaving Liam and Harry scrambling to catch up with him.

••••

Once they reached the first camp, the troops soon discovered that the work they’d been doing back at basic had been just that: basic. And this time, they were being trained by Captain Tomlinson himself - and he demanded nothing less than perfection. For the first time, Harry found himself noticeably struggling to keep up, his physiology working against him as he dug deep into his reserves to try and prove himself alongside the other Alphas. And as he worked to keep up, while maintaining his strict regimen of suppressants and scent neutralisers, he couldn’t help but notice that he was the last in everything, and didn’t appear to be improving, and he wondered if the suppressants were to blame. Taking a giant leap of faith, he stopped taking them, relying solely on the scent neutralisers, in an attempt to try and catch up.

After two days, during which Captain Tomlinson had ramped up the level of expectation, and set them all a challenge that required both strength and skill - two qualities that apparently none of the battalion were capable of, because none of them had yet managed it - Harry heard his name called at the end of a particularly grueling cross-country march, as everyone was dismissed to the showers.

“Styles! Not you!”

“Oh fuck,” Harry groaned under his breath.

“Good luck, mate,” Liam said sympathetically.

“Yeah, we’ll make sure there’s some hot water left for you,” Niall added.

“Thanks, guys,” Harry sighed. “See you in a bit.”

The other two left, while Harry turned on his heel, making his way slowly over to stand in front of Captain Tomlinson. He had to fight the urge to bare his throat in the typically expected submissive Omega attitude when faced with an Alpha of seniority.

“You wanted to see me, sir?” he said carefully, trying to keep his voice steady.

“Yes,” Captain Tomlinson agreed, eyeing him slowly. “I’m sorry, Styles. But I’m gonna have to send you home. You’re not keeping up with the training, you’re not fit to serve.”

“But, wait, I’m trying!” Harry immediately protested.

“That you may be,” Captain Tomlinson allowed. “But the truth of the matter is that you are not physically capable of it. I’ve been watching you since we were at basic, and you don’t appear to have the same physicality as the rest of us.” He eyed Harry suspiciously. “But your health tests keep coming back clean.”

“I’m perfectly healthy,” Harry retorted, a little indignant. “I just haven’t really done any hardcore exercise before. And let’s face it, training for a war is somewhat more difficult than just standard exercise anyway.”

“Be that as it may, I can’t afford for you to continue,” Captain Tomlinson barreled on, before he let out a heavy sigh at the look of dejection on Harry’s face. “This is not the right place for you, Styles. It’s time you went home.”

“But, I got conscripted,” Harry stammered. “I, I thought that meant I had to stay, had to serve.”

“Not on the front,” came the reply. “I’ll send you back with a letter of recommendation, because I know you’ve worked hard.”

Harry gazed at him for a moment, before his expression hardened and then blanked, as he stood up a little straighter, realising that there would be no changing of minds at this precise moment.

“I understand, sir,” he nodded once. “Thank you for your assistance and guidance.”

Captain Tomlinson observed him quietly, and then sighed, waving a hand towards him.

“Dismissed, Styles. Return to your barracks and pack your things. I’ll arrange transport for you to leave in the morning.”

Harry bit his lip hard as he saluted and turned away, managing to hold onto his last shred of dignity until he’d left Captain Tomlinson’s presence. At which point, he buried his face in his hands and ducked behind the corner of a storage tent, where he began to sob quietly. He knew if he returned home, in disgrace, his deception would be discovered, and both he and Anne would get into severe trouble.

After a few moments in which he allowed time to dwell on his current situation, Harry shook himself roughly and straightened his spine as he rubbed his cheeks with his sleeve. He needed to come up with a way to stay, and fast. As he started to head back to the tent he was sharing with Niall and Liam, he caught sight of the tall telegraph pole that was part of the challenge Captain Tomlinson had set.

At the very top was an arrow, shot there by the Captain himself. At the bottom was a small table, upon which a box rested, containing two large weights attached to leather straps, each representing ‘strength’ and ‘discipline’. The challenge that Captain Tomlinson had put to them was to climb the pole, completely unaided, but while carrying the two weights. No one had managed to get even halfway up as yet, but Harry eyed the pole, the arrow, and the weights speculatively. If he could reach that arrow, maybe the Captain would reconsider his place in the troops.

Harry took a deep breath and changed the direction of his stride, instead approaching the telegraph pole and the table. He took the two weights out of the box, slipping the straps around his wrists as he stepped closer to the pole itself, looking up at it with a pondering frown. Harry threw his arms around the pole and attempted to wriggle his way up - but only succeeded in sliding gracelessly down onto his ass in the dampening grass. He huffed softly and stood before he took a few steps back and sat down to think about the problem again, trying to come at it from different angles.

Just as the sky began to lighten, and the sun began to rise, Harry pushed himself up to his feet and approached the pole again, feeling infinitely more confident as he believed he had worked the problem out. He slung both weights around each side of the pole and tangled the straps together. After tugging gently to make sure they could withstand his weight, he took a deep breath and raised the weights up the back of the pole before bracing his foot against the front and stepping up. Taking his time, he continued to alternate between tugging the weights and taking careful steps, slowly making his way up the pole, until he reached the top. As he did, a crowd gathered below him, as his fellow soldiers awoke and came out of their tents to watch him. With a low grunt, Harry somehow - he had no idea how, and nor did the soldiers below if their collective gasp was anything to go by - managed to manoeuvre himself around so that he was sat on the top of the pole, panting heavily, as the soldiers began to cheer excitedly and supportively.

Captain Louis Tomlinson heard the commotion from the soldiers and frowned. With a small sigh, he rose from his bed and pushed aside the flap of his tent to step outside, but immediately jumped backwards defensively as an arrow landed in the ground right in front of him. He looked up sharply to locate the person who’d dared to shoot at him, and blinked in surprise as he spotted a figure sat atop the telegraph pole. He raised a hand to shield his eyes from the sun, and was even more gobsmacked upon sighting Styles sat up there, the weights slung around his neck and his legs swinging loosely, like he hadn’t a care in the world.

Louis sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he closed his eyes briefly, before he shrugged tiredly.

“Fine, you can stay,” he called up. “But you need to work on your stamina!”

“Whatever you say, sir!” Styles called back, wearing that huge grin that Louis refused to acknowledge did anything unnecessary or inappropriate to his insides.

Louis nodded once and turned to return to his tent.

“Uh, sir?” Styles called again.

Louis looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Is there any chance of a ladder?”


	3. You Can Guess (What We’ve Missed the Most)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from A Girl Worth Fighting For from the original animated film.

The troops, under Captain Tomlinson’s careful guidance, quickly began to improve after Harry’s stunt with the arrow. There were soon murmurs flying around the camp about the chance of them leaving and joining the front lines.

“Are we really ready for that?” Harry asked, panting as he tried to calm himself down after another cross-country obstacle course; one that all of them had completed less than a minute slower than Captain Tomlinson had. “The front, I mean.”

“Well, we’ve passed everything we needed to,” Liam shrugged.

“Some of us have even passed out,” Niall groaned from where he was sprawled out face down on the floor.

Liam shook his head in amusement.

“Idiot,” he commented, before returning his attention to Harry. “But in all seriousness, mate. I’m pretty sure that Captain Tomlinson wouldn’t advocate for us to go ahead with this unless he thought we were actually ready for it. I feel pretty confident, especially if I’ve got you lads at my side.”

“Aww, he loves us, Haz,” Niall teased, getting to his feet with a grunt.

“I’m glad I met you both,” Harry suddenly blurted out, causing both of them to look at him quizzically. “I mean… I’m glad I went through this with you. I think I’d have found it a lot harder if it had been anyone else.”

“If you shitheads won’t stop getting sappy, I’m gonna go call my husband,” Niall grumbled. “I’m already missing the shit out of him. I don’t need this extra stress on my emotions.”

“I guess that’s who you’re fighting for, right?” Harry said carefully.

“Oh yeah,” Niall nodded quickly. “Shawn is a strong person. He can do so much shit I can’t, as well as a ton of what I can.” He shrugged carelessly. “It fucking sucks that Aidem think that Omegas are lower-class citizens, because they’re ridiculously fucking strong in comparison to us Alphas.”

“How do you mean?” Harry raised an eyebrow, curious to know how these Alphas felt about the war.

“Well, they have kids for one?” Liam interjected. “There is no way in hell I would be able to do that. I’m not even taking into account the physicality of birth right now, but the rest of it is pretty shitty really. Our ruts can be immersive, right? It all boils down to getting your dick wet though. Anything will do for us.” Liam frowned, rubbing a hand over his hair. “But heats for Omegas? They’re terrifying. They literally cannot function unless they have something inside them.”

“Shawn was nearly hospitalised during one of his first heats,” Niall offered. “He was completely overwhelmed by everything, and didn’t drink enough. He was on the verge of dehydration, but his mum managed to get enough water into him.” He caught their looks. “It was before we were together like that.”

“They sound pretty horrific,” Harry said weakly, not really sure on how to comment.

“They definitely can be,” Liam agreed. “But Omegas are amazing for it. Because they handle all that, and they still hold down jobs, bring up kids, look after us, and handle the discrimination they face on a daily basis.” He shrugged a little. “I always supported the cause, because it’s a damn good one. It was just the timing that was inconvenient.”

“Hopefully we can get you back home before your baby’s born,” Niall said, with a gentle nudge to Liam’s side.

“How much longer before Zayn’s due?” Harry asked.

“Not very long,” Liam sighed softly. “A couple more months or so.”

“Guess we’d better sweep in there and wrap it up quickly,” Niall joked.

“What are we wrapping up, lads?” Captain Tomlinson made them all jump as he appeared behind them.

“Oh, y’know, the war,” Harry said with a careless shrug. “Thought we’d go sort Aidem out, then stop by Nando’s on the way home.”

“I’m definitely on board with that plan,” Niall immediately piped up.

“Well, there’s only one flaw in that logic that I can see,” the Captain nodded slowly.

“What’s that?” Harry demanded.

“It’s at least a day’s travel to get to the nearest Nando’s,” came the solemn reply. “And I’m not entirely sure what time we’d be able to finish this war. We might not make it back in time for last orders.” He paused for a moment. “But I guess we could give it a try,” he added with a grin.

••••

The very next day the troops moved out, making their way towards the front line where the Colonel of the Aidem army was currently causing the Enilenif military a considerable amount of grief. Col. Winston was an evil, sadistic son-of-a-bitch who took great pleasure in torturing any prisoners of war his army managed to capture.

Louis had received his orders from his immediate boss, Major Jay Deakin, to attend a gap in the Enilenif defences that Col. Winston and his army were planning to exploit, with the aim of breaching the city walls of Golden.

It was both a long drawn out journey, and one that seemed to occur in the blink of an eye. As they gathered atop the hill that looked out over the borders of Enilenif, a thick spiral of smoke was visible ahead.

“Shit,” Liam muttered. “That doesn’t look good.”

“We can handle this,” Louis assured him. “We know what we’re doing. I’ve trained you well.”

“You have way more faith in us than we have,” Harry pointed out. “But thanks.”

Louis chuckled softly, but drew all of the troops in around him as he outlined his plan of attack. Within ten minutes, they were slowly proceeding towards the smoke. They took their time, tiptoeing through the bracken and foliage, keeping as quiet as they possibly could, until they reached the very edge of the Enilenif border.

That’s when the shit hit the fan.

Oli Wright, one of the other Alphas that had been on the same train as Harry and Liam, had stepped out from the treeline first, immediately taking a hit to the shoulder which spun him almost comically in a circle until he dropped to his knees with a muffled yell. The rest of the troop leapt into action, a couple managing to pull him back to safety, while the others looked around desperately, trying to locate the shooter.

Harry found himself alongside Captain Tomlinson, lifting his gun after a moment and whispering for the Captain to stay still and silent, as he took aim and fired. There was a pause of silence, before Harry slipped between the trees, gesturing for the Captain to follow, keeping low as they crossed the fairly exposed area of land until they reached the border itself.

“What now?” Harry murmured.

“We need to find where the rest of the lookouts are because they’re gonna notice that they’re missing one,” Captain Tomlinson told him quickly. “That was an excellent shot though, Styles.”

“Thanks,” Harry flickered a smile. “Been practicing.”

The rest of his colleagues crossed the exposed land to join them, all murmuring congratulations to Harry, while the Captain scouted around to work out what they were to do next.

They should have been more alert.   
They should have paid more attention to their surroundings.   
They shouldn’t have been out on the front while so inexperienced.

As soon as they relaxed a little more, all hell let loose.

An explosion went off to one side, sending all of them diving to the ground in search of cover. What followed could only be described as chaos, as the Enilenif army scrambled to regroup and retaliate, finding their weapons and turning them on the enemy with far more finesse than could have been predicted.

The Aidem army was overconfident and cocky, lulled into a false sense of bravado and an over-inflated belief in their Alpha strength due to the outdated propaganda spewed repeatedly by their press. In doing so, they completely underestimated the Enilenif army, made up of the misfits and reluctant fighters - and most importantly a rogue Omega that no one knew about. While they attempted to bluster their way through, Captain Tomlinson led his army around the outskirts of the engagement zone, essentially encircling the enemy before attacking and overpowering the so-called greater force.

As the dust settled, Louis stepped out from his position behind a tree, smiling proudly.

“Nicely done!” he called, clapping his hands in celebration. “So fucking proud of you all!”

As he made his way to the centre of the field, Harry heard the snap of a twig, and quickly turned toward the sound. Before he could even think about what he was doing, he dived across the expanse even as he aimed his gun towards Col. Winston. There was a split second difference in the two firings, as Winston dropped like a stone from atop a small ridge, and then Harry groaned in pain as he hit the ground in front of Louis, a bullet embedded firmly in his shoulder.

“Holy shit, Styles!” Louis immediately dropped to his knees. “Are you okay? Someone get me a medic!” He quickly tore a strip off of his shirt and pressed it firmly to the bullet wound. “You absolute fucking idiot, what the hell did you do that for?”

“Couldn’t let you get hit,” Harry managed to gasp. “Gotta protect the boss, right?”

“While I admire your tenacity, Styles, I’m not entirely sure I’d be happy writing a letter to your family telling them of your death,” Louis said gently. “So next time, maybe just yell at me to duck?”

Harry coughed out a laugh as Liam and Niall rushed to join them, a medic right behind.

“Ow, ow,” Harry protested as he pulled at his wound.

“Careful, careful,” Louis said quickly, pressing down a little harder and looking to the medic. “Can you get the bullet out?”

“Get my tent set up and I’ll see what I can do,” the medic sighed. “But it looks like a fairly clean entry. Should be easy enough to treat.” He looked at Harry with an accusing look. “I suppose it was about time I started earning my money, right?”

Within a few minutes the troops had assembled the medic’s tent, including the bed inside, and Liam and Niall had managed to move Harry in without causing him too much pain. Louis dismissed the others to erect their own tents, ready to settle in for the night, before he began to pace to and fro, awaiting updates from the medic as he tried to calm his tumultuous thoughts.

Styles was one of his soldiers, one of his subordinates, and an Alpha to boot - the way Louis was beginning to feel about him was wrong on so many levels. It was something he’d thought about before, the fact that he felt the same way about other Alphas as he did about Omegas. But he’d hoped that being out in the field with a team would be something he could handle easily, something that didn’t distract him or make him question his choice about fighting. Instead, he’d had Styles - Harry - as one of the least likely candidates for the army he’d ever come across. Harry, with his gangly Bambi legs, and his big green eyes, and those ridiculous dimples whenever he grinned.

Louis shook his head quickly, trying to clear his thoughts. Now was not the time to get hung up on what Harry looked like - not when the bloke was having a bullet removed from his shoulder, a bullet that he’d taken for Louis.

He had just perched himself on a rock when the tent opened and the medic came out, looking a little harassed. Louis jumped to his feet and rushed over.

“Is he okay?” he asked quickly.

“Yes, uh, he’s fine,” the medic said carefully.

“Why do you say it like that?”

“Well, there’s a slight complication.”

Louis frowned.

“What sort of complication? Did the bullet hit a nerve or something? Is he going to lose his arm?”

“No, no,” the medic said quickly. “Nothing like that.” He sighed heavily, looking from side to side to make sure no one else was around, before he leaned in to murmur to Louis. “He appears to have started pre-heat.”

“Pre-heat?” Louis looked confused. “You sure you don’t mean rut?”

“No, sir,” the medic shook his head. “Definitely pre-heat. He’s asleep right now because I knocked him out with some pretty strong painkillers. But he’s definitely showing all the signs of pre-heat. Sweating, flushed skin, increased pheromone scent.” The medic eyed Louis uncertainly. “I’m not entirely sure how he’s managed to keep it quiet for so long, but I’m going to hazard a guess that the stress of the events today were the trigger.”

“What do you suggest we do?” Louis asked dully, feeling incredibly wrong-footed.

“I… don’t know.”


	4. I Will Show The World (What’s Inside My Heart)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from Reflection by Christina Aguilera from the original animated film.

Harry moaned softly as he stirred, feeling the familiar heat burning through his veins and making him squirm uncomfortably.

“Fuck,” he mumbled, turning onto his front and hissing in pain as his shoulder wound pulled. “Ow.”

The heat hadn’t yet fully descended upon him, so his thoughts were still relatively clear. Which meant that it only took a few moments for him to remember exactly where he was, what had happened, and what was going to happen to him now.

With a loud groan, he pushed himself to sit up, running a hand through his hair as he struggled to hold on to the last thread of sanity that remained before his heat set in. A movement at the entryway caught his attention and he flushed hard upon seeing Captain Tomlinson standing just inside the tent, unable to stop the shudder that wracked his body as he caught the undeniable scent of an Alpha.

“Shit,” he whispered, trying to regain control of himself.

“So it’s true,” Captain Tomlinson said quietly. “You’re an Omega.”

“I can explain,” Harry murmured. “I just… this wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“This is exactly why I’m not sold on the idea of Omegas in the army,” Captain Tomlinson continued. “How are you going to be able to function for the next, what? Four days? Five?”

“It, it’s usually about f-four,” Harry muttered. “But I’ve heard it’s shorter with an Alpha.”

“So what? You want me to get one of your friends in here to get you through it?”

Harry flinched at the noticeable scoff, cowering back against the pillow slightly.

Louis sighed heavily as he watched Harry’s reaction. He didn’t even really understand why he was being so snippy with the soldier - he wasn’t judging him in the slightest, and there was obviously a reason why he was there pretending to be an Alpha. But the scent of Harry’s heat, his slick, was beginning to overwhelm all of his senses, and he was beginning to feel a familiar itch beneath his skin that usually signified the start of his rut.

He ran a hand through his hair and shifted his weight awkwardly, not taking his eyes off the soldier. Louis knew what he had to do, but actually doing it - especially to Harry, if he was completely honest - was going to be difficult. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he braced himself to talk.

“Private Styles,” he began.

“Please, don’t,” Harry whispered. “I know what you’re going to do. Please don’t.”

“Private Styles,” Louis repeated. “You are hereby dismissed from the Enilenif army, and your position stripped. You are no longer subject to the benefits of the army.” He paused for a moment, then sighed. “Really, I should be charging you with fraudulent entry, but… you saved my life. So. Call it a favour returned.”

“I didn’t do it so you owed me anything,” Harry mumbled, shameful tears rolling down his cheeks.

“Even so,” Louis replied. “I’ll get Private Horan to collect your things. The rest of the troops will be leaving to return to Golden shortly. You are not to join us.”

Harry looked at him sharply.

“You’re leaving me here? Now?” he demanded.

“Yes,” Louis nodded. “You are no longer our responsibility.”

“But, I’m about to go into heat,” Harry choked out.

“That is not my problem.”

With a final nod, Louis turned on his heel and left the tent, calling on Private Horan to fetch all of Harry’s things, before telling everyone else to pack up and be ready to leave.

Harry lay on the bed, listening to the sounds of the camp breaking down around him as he tried desperately to cling to the last shreds of his rationality, fighting off the pull of the heat. As the noises began to drift off, the flap of the tent flicked back and Niall ducked through the gap. His only reaction to the scent of Harry’s pre-heat was a slight flicker of his eyebrows.

“Hey,” he said softly. “Boss has asked me to come get you out. Got your stuff all ready outside.”

“I… I can move myself,” Harry managed, swallowing hard. “It’s my shoulder that got hurt, not my legs.”

He sat up carefully, wincing as the pressure increased on his butt, before he slowly stood. He took a deep breath as he grabbed his shirt from beside the bed and pulled it on as best as he could with one hand, flinching back a little as Niall made an aborted move to help.

“Sorry,” Niall murmured. “I was just --”

“I’m fine,” Harry almost snapped, before he sighed. “Sorry. I’m okay. Just… holding on right now.”

Niall nodded slowly in understanding.

“You’re doing amazingly well,” he said quietly. “Shawn’s not very good at holding his off. He’s got a short temper, and very little control over his emotions at all, to be honest,” he added with a soft chuckle. “I’ll be glad to see him again, when we get home.”

Harry nodded slowly.

“I’m happy for you, and for Liam, that you’re both going home to your husbands,” he said carefully. “But you should probably go. I don’t want you to get into trouble with Captain Tomlinson.”

Niall sighed heavily.

“About him,” he started.

“I don’t think I wanna hear it,” Harry interrupted tiredly.

“I don’t think he wants to do this,” Niall said anyway. “When he thinks no one’s looking at him, he looks devastated.” He paused for a moment, considering his next words. “I think he’s been noticing you for a while, even when he thought you were still an Alpha. Which, y’know, fairly progressive for someone in a position of power, gotta be said.”

“If you say so,” Harry sighed. “I just… I need to get away from the Alpha scents, Niall. While I’m still fully in control of myself. I’m used to spending my heats alone, so it’s not going to be anything new.”

“This is the last tent we need to take down,” Niall said softly. “We’ll be heading out in about ten minutes.”

Harry nodded and moved to the entry of the tent.

“Thanks, Ni,” he murmured. “For not freaking about this.”

“Nothing to freak about,” Niall shrugged. “Just… look after yourself? Please?”

“I’ll do my best,” Harry flickered a smile, before ducking out of the tent and taking a deep breath of the fresh air.

Standing across from the tent was Liam, alongside Captain Tomlinson.

“Are you okay, Harry?” Liam asked quickly, going to take a step forward, but prevented by the Captain’s hand on his arm.

“I’ll be fine,” Harry assured him quietly, casting a sideways glance at Captain Tomlinson. “Good luck in the capital.” He closed his eyes and trembled slightly. “You’d better hurry up and leave though. It’s getting close.”

“Are you sure there’s nothing we can do?” Liam asked, sounding almost desperate as Niall quickly finished taking down the tent. “Anything?”

“I’ll be fine, I promise,” Harry mumbled. “I just… need for there not to be Alphas.” He grimaced as he felt the heat prickling insistently all over, clenching his fists as he fought to maintain control, as well as his balance. “I can get through this. I always do.”

“Ready to go,” Niall said quietly, hefting the rolled up tent over his shoulder. “Stay safe, Harry.”

“Yeah, look after yourself,” Liam added.

Both of them looked incredibly concerned as they turned to follow Captain Tomlinson, who said nothing, and simply led the two Alpha soldiers away. Harry didn’t dare to watch, but simply held himself as still as he possibly could, until the feeling got too much to bear, and he let out a loud and helpless yell, dropping heavily to his knees in the grass.

He gasped sharply and fell onto his side, drawing his knees up to his chest as he promptly soaked through his trousers with the slick of his heat, shuddering repeatedly with the waves of desperation rushing through him.

“Oh god,” he gasped. “I’m not gonna make it through this one!”

••••

Louis led Privates Payne and Horan along the well-worn path through the forest, towards where the rest of the troops were awaiting them for the parade into Golden to celebrate the defeat of the main Aidem army. He deliberately pushed aside all thoughts of the beautiful Omega that they had left behind, no matter how hard they pressed against him, desperate and calling for his attention.

The trio had nearly reached the clearing where the rest of the army were waiting, when a noise echoed through the forest, startling a ton of birds from the trees, and causing Louis’ skin to twitch in reaction.

“Shit,” he whispered.

“Everything okay, sir?” Payne asked, looking a little concerned.

“I, uh,” Louis scrambled to find the words he needed. “Oh fuck it, I need to go back. I need to look after Harry. Or I’m going to regret it forever.”

Both Payne and Horan nodded in understanding.

“You head on back to him,” Horan agreed. “We’ll wait… and make sure no one comes to find you,” he added.

Liam nodded quickly in agreement.

“Stay alert,” Louis told them both, before turning on his heel and striding back the way they came.

As he got closer to where they had left Harry, Louis could feel it as the atmosphere began to get more tense and strained. The scent of Harry’s heat was delicate at first, but grew stronger as he got closer, until he was practically overwhelmed by it.

“H-Harry?” he called out tentatively. “Are you there?”

He stepped out into the small clearing where the medical tent had been assembled to find Harry naked and curled up in the middle of the grass, surrounded by the few clothes he had with him formed into some semblance of a nest, and whimpering quietly.

“Harry?” Louis moved closer.

“Oh god,” Harry groaned softly, a visible shudder wracking his body. “L-Louis?”

Louis crossed to him quickly, dropping to his knees and looking at him worriedly.

“What can I do to help?” he asked, hesitantly holding a hand out to touch, but pulling it back sharply as Harry arched towards him. “Fuck, Harry…”

“Please,” Harry gasped out. “Louis, please. Please touch me. Need… need you so much.”

“Oh, this is gonna go so… so bad,” Louis murmured.

He shrugged out of his jacket and unbuckled the sword holster from his waist, biting his lip as he shuffled closer to Harry, who was still curled up on the ground. It had been a while since he’d helped an Omega through their heat - he’d been in the army for the past couple of years, and his only down time had been spent with family - but he thought he could remember how it went. Cursing softly, he pulled away just as Harry reached for him, his heart aching at the pained cry that his movement caused.

“Sorry, sorry,” Louis said quickly. “Need to check we’ve got water. I’ll be two seconds, I promise.”

“L-Louis,” Harry whimpered weakly.

“I know, I know, I’m right here, love,” Louis whispered. “I’m right here.”

He grabbed the canteens of water from his bag as well as the one in Harry’s kitbag, putting them within easy reach of where they were going to be, and then threw some protein bars on top of them, before he rejoined a still-whimpering Harry.

“See? Right here, not going anywhere,” he reassured Harry, leaning over to press a kiss to his forehead.

That simple kiss was the final spark to ignite the fire.

Harry let out a pained groan and arched up to wrap his arms around Louis’ neck, pressing his lips to Louis’ desperately as he fell back into the nest, pulling the Alpha between his legs, seemingly unaware or uncaring of the clothing still separating them. Louis moaned softly into Harry’s mouth, sliding his hands over heated skin and shifting his weight more evenly onto his knees, one hand slamming against the ground to keep his balance.

What followed was a tangled mess of heat and slick and passion and desire, as Louis managed to wriggle out of his clothing right before Harry pulled him deep inside with a loud, desperate moan of his name. Louis gasped at the heat that surrounded him, burying his face in Harry’s shoulder as he rocked firmly, quickly feeling his knot starting to thicken at the base of his cock and the resulting coo that Harry let out when he felt it too.

“Need that, need to feel it,” Harry whispered, still sounding desperate and needy, clinging to Louis’ back. “Need your knot, Louis. Please, please Captain.”

Louis let out a deep groan at Harry’s use of his title, thrusting in harder and deeper than before just as his knot popped properly, locking them together and triggering Harry’s orgasm. Louis lifted his head slightly so he could watch as Harry arched his back and moaned loudly, shuddering beneath Louis with the way he fell apart completely.

“Easy, easy,” Louis whispered softly, pressing tender kisses over Harry’s fevered skin. “You’re safe, love. I promise, you’re safe. I’m here. I’ve got you.”

“Mmm,” Harry mumbled, curling his legs around Louis’ waist and cuddling him closer. “Feel so good, Lou.” He closed his eyes and hid his face in Louis’ shoulder, the fog of heat lifting from his head a little as the overwhelming desire was sated, at least temporarily. After a beat, he froze, before slowly lifting his head back to look at Louis, his eyes wide and spooked. “Oh shit, Louis -- I m-mean, Captain…”

“I think we’re past formalities now,” Louis chuckled softly, stroking Harry’s hair tenderly. “You’ve been moaning my name for the past fifteen minutes; I’m sure you can handle just saying it normally.”

Harry blushed hard and covered his face with his hands.

“Shit, shit, shit,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry for all of this. I never meant for this to happen.”

“I know you didn’t,” Louis reassured him quietly. “You did a damn good job of convincing everyone that you were an Alpha.” He gazed at the other man speculatively. “What caused the change?”

Harry sighed heavily, resting his head back against the grass.

“When I got off the train, I was on suppressants,” he reluctantly began to explain. “My mum was drafted, as the Alpha of our family, but she’s not physically able to do all of this stuff - her hip’s fucked. So… I took off in the middle of the night, took her conscription letter, bought a ton of suppressants to see me out.”

“And you ran out?” Louis guessed, looking a little surprised when Harry shook his head.

“No, I stopped taking them,” Harry said slowly. “I realised they were having an impact on my level of fitness. I was falling behind. I was just starting to feel a bit more myself when you told me to go home.” Harry shrugged a shoulder dismissively. “Got your damn arrow down, and didn’t think anything more of it as we carried on with training, and then getting here.” He sighed softly. “I’m guessing the adrenaline rush flushing out the rest of the suppressants, as well as spending so much time around Alphas lately caused my heat to trigger.” He sighed again. “I’m sorry. It’s such a pain, and this is the last place you either want or need to be. And I’m sure it just strengthens the cons list for whether having Omegas on the team is advantageous or not.”

“Let’s not start putting words in my mouth,” Louis said gently. “I can actually admit that I was wrong - there is no difference between the physical fitness of either an Alpha or an Omega. You’ve actually given me a lot to think about, if I’m honest.” He lazily stroked Harry’s arm. “You opened my eyes to a lot of misconceptions I had about Omegas. And I seriously need to reconsider my personal stance.” He flickered a small smile. “Because even though I may have been following orders regarding this fight, I can’t say with absolute certainty that I agreed with it - I was just doing the work. Doing as I’m told. But privately thinking that this is no place for an Omega - they deserve to be loved and protected and looked after.” He watched Harry quietly, shifting his weight as his knot went down and his cock slipped from Harry’s ass. “But I’m learning that that’s an old-fashioned concept, and they’re actually capable of a great many things.”

“We can even hold down jobs at the same time as looking after a household, y’know,” Harry murmured softly, shivering hard as the next wave of heat already began to build. “It’s… it’s only a couple days we’re, we’re like this.” He struggled to get his breath a little. “Shit. It’s coming back.”

“It’s okay, I’ve got you,” Louis promised. “Please. Just trust me to look after you through this. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

“O-okay,” Harry stammered, before he closed his eyes and succumbed to the heat ripping through him.

Over the next few hours, Louis alternately fucked and cared for Harry through his heat. When the overwhelming passion settled and sated a little, while they were locked together on Louis’ knot, Louis did his best to convince Harry to munch on the cardboard-like protein bars, or take small sips of water to try to keep his strength up, hoping that it would be over soon.


	5. Baby, I See Your Future (And It’s Tied To Mine)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from True To Your Heart by 98° and Stevie Wonder from the original animated film.

Eventually, around six hours after Louis had returned to the clearing, and after yet another particularly explosive climax on Louis’ knot, Harry let out a heavy sigh and stretched out as much as he could with a low groan, before he looked up at Louis, his eyes looking clearer and more alert.

“How are you feeling?” Louis asked carefully.

“Like I’ve been hit with a ten foot pole,” Harry mumbled, his voice rough and raspy.

Louis smiled softly.

“Is it over, do you think?” he asked.

“Yeah, it is,” Harry nodded immediately. “I’m feeling more myself. Except with a Captain Tomlinson-shaped dick up my ass.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Louis joked.

“Ehh,” Harry shrugged before he smiled. “Nah, it’ll do.” He gently squeezed Louis’ wrist with one hand, reassuring him. “How long did it take?”

“Uhh,” Louis glanced quickly at his watch. “We’ve probably been here for six hours or so?”

Harry looked at him sharply.

“Six? Definitely six?” he asked.

“Yeah, I got back here about 2pm, and now it’s nearly 8,” Louis nodded. “Why?”

“My heats normally last at least four days on my own,” Harry admitted, before flopping his head back on the grass, while Louis’ knot loosened enough for him to pull free again. “So I guess I should thank you.”

“You saved my life,” Louis said slowly.

“What?” Harry lifted his head with a frown.

“You saved my life,” Louis repeated. “You jumped in front of that bullet for me. You know full well that this is the least I could do for that.”

Harry tensed up slightly before he nodded slowly.

“I… guess so,” he said stiltedly. “Uh, I should probably return to Golden then. Get my discharge papers filed or whatever.”

“Don’t,” Louis blurted out.

“What?”

“Burn your discharge papers,” Louis said slowly. “I want you back on the team. I want you to get the credit you deserve from Golden. So that means marching beside us.”

“You’re… you’re just saying that cos you’re dick-happy,” Harry mumbled, pulling back slowly and sitting up, running a shaky hand through his hair. “You wouldn’t be saying anything remotely like it if we hadn’t spent the past six hours fucking.”

“Probably not, no,” Louis admitted. “But I’m not dick-happy. I’m just… I’m more aware of what your reality is. And I’m really fucking proud of what you achieved today.”

“Sleeping with the Captain?” Harry asked sarcastically.

“No,” Louis said firmly, a little bit of annoyed Alpha timbre settling into his voice, causing Harry to let out a soft whine and start to bare his throat. “Shit, sorry! Don’t do that!” he scrambled to apologise and stop Harry’s actions. “I didn’t mean for that to happen!”

“Fuck,” Harry mumbled, hanging his head tiredly. “Let me get dressed. I can’t talk to you while I’m naked any more. You’re stressing me out.”

Louis nodded silently and shuffled back to stand, stepping carefully out of the small nest that Harry had put together, before he reached for his clothes to tug them on and then waited patiently for Harry to speak.

••••

Harry cursed himself repeatedly in his head as he pulled his clothes on, an uncontrollable shiver wracking his body every time his over-sensitised skin experienced a little too much stimulation. He could feel the unimaginable draw to Louis, the Omega attracted to the strong and dominant Alpha, and the desperate need to be loved and cared for and adored, in a way he never had felt before. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, centring himself and trying to push away the remnants of near-desperate desire from his heat.

“You okay?” Louis - Captain Tomlinson’s - voice broke through his thoughts. “Harry?”

“I’m fine,” Harry mumbled in reply. “I’m just trying to refocus myself.” He glanced over with a ghost of a smile. “Better get ready for the trek to Golden, right?”

Captain Tomlinson nodded slowly.

“If there’s anything I can do…?” he asked, taking a small step closer but immediately stopping when Harry cringed slightly. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Harry replied quietly. “Just feeling a bit… unsettled.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “And I don’t really wanna face the others again.”

“Well, only Payne and Horan know what happened with you.”

“That doesn’t exactly make it easier - they’re my friends,” Harry sighed.

“I, uh, I left Horan just outside the tree line,” the Captain admitted, causing Harry to look at him sharply. “Sorry, I just needed someone to stand guard, in case anyone else came along. I didn’t want us to be interrupted.”

Harry raised an eyebrow.

“You were pretty sure of yourself, weren’t you?” he asked.

“Well, you were in the middle of heat, so… yeah?”

“Wow. That’s. Wow.” Harry shook his head and grabbed the rest of his things together.

“What? What did I say?”

“Captain -” _“Louis, please, just call me Louis”_ “- Louis, by saying that just because I was in heat I was definitely a dead cert for a fuck is incredibly sexist,” Harry said patiently, allowing a little annoyance to seep into his tone. “I knew it was you. I knew who I was and where I was and what was going on. And I could’ve said no. I could’ve chosen not to have sex with you.”

“Could you though?” Louis asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes,” Harry said coolly. “I have in the past, when an Alpha’s tried his luck when I’ve been close. And when I thought I wanted an Alpha to help me through it but changed my mind.”

“You can do that?” Louis sounded genuinely shocked.

“Jesus fuck, Louis!” Harry exclaimed. “Are you seriously that ignorant of how Omegas function?” He ran a hand through his hair, huffing softly. “We don’t turn into mindless slaves to our slick assholes. We’re still perfectly capable of rational thought and function, it’s just fucking difficult to concentrate. But because of attitudes and beliefs of Alphas like you, an Omega can’t accuse an Alpha of rape when they’re in heat - because you all think that we’re unable to think outside our hormones, and therefore don’t mean it if we say no.”

Louis stared at him, completely dumbfounded. Harry let out a heavy sigh.

“This is not what I wanted to get into right now,” he muttered. “C’mon, let’s go find Niall and get back to the rest of the army before they realise you’re nowhere to be seen, and nor is the soldier you insisted on leaving behind.”

“Hey, it wasn’t like that,” Louis protested quickly. “I couldn’t just bring you along without thinking about it, and I didn’t exactly have time right there and then.”

“So you thought about it for a moment, came and got your dick wet, and now you’ve changed your mind?” Harry guessed, raising an eyebrow.

Louis sighed heavily.

“No matter what I say right now, nothing’s gonna be right, is it?” he asked resignedly.

Harry shrugged a shoulder and grabbed his bag, swinging it up onto his back and settling it there. Louis huffed softly again and grabbed the rest of his things, before he began to lead the way back to where Niall was still waiting for them.

When they both emerged from the bushes, Niall leapt to his feet from where he’d been sprawled on the ground, looking between them worriedly. Harry shook his head once as Niall fell into step alongside him, all of them starting back towards the rest of the troops.

••••

Within a day and a half, the troops reached the outer city limits of Golden, to be greeted with street parties, ticker tape, and general celebration. The army all exchanged confused looks, but continued on through the streets, their progress regularly interrupted as the civilians kept stopping them to shake their hands, thanking them for what they’d achieved.

“What are they talking about, Captain?” Liam eventually broke rank to ask.

“I’m not entirely sure, Payne,” Louis admitted. “But I’m guessing our battle had an impact on the war?”

“Would Swen Ekaf really pull his troops back, just because of us?” Harry looked around in disbelief.

“We did hit his main Commander dude,” Niall shrugged a shoulder. “Maybe that was enough to turn the tide or whatever.”

“We’ll find out when we reach the main headquarters,” Louis interjected.

“Didn’t realise they were in the centre of town,” Harry added in a mumble, stretching out an ankle with his next step.

“Sore feet too?” Niall murmured.

“Mmhmm.”

“Think we’re all suffering,” Liam sighed. “I really just wanna get home, if all of this is over.”

“When you lot have quite finished,” Louis interrupted. “We’re here.”

He led the way up the steps to the Army Headquarters, to be greeted by a woman in full formal regalia.

“Major Deakin,” he said formally, saluting stiffly.

“Louis,” she said with a bright smile, gently knocking his hand out of the salute and slipping her arms around him, hugging him tightly. “I’m so proud of you, darling.”

“Hi Mum,” he murmured, relaxing into her embrace. “Not entirely sure what’s going on, if I’m honest.”

“Aidem have completely retreated,” she explained quickly. “The upper echelon have decided that maybe this isn’t the hill they want their people to die on.” She shrugged and rolled her eyes. “So we’re kinda celebrating.” Jay smiled softly. “Omegas are being granted equal status here in Enilenif, effective immediately.”

Louis looked quickly around at Harry, his eyes wide.

“I-Immediately?” Louis stammered. “As in… now?”

“As in, as of this morning,” Jay nodded. “Omegas have the same rights to everything - property, wages, legal assistance… you name it.”

“They can enlist as well?”

“That comes in tomorrow,” Jay replied. “We had to wait for your return to confirm what we believed happened. So as soon as we’ve got you all debriefed, the paperwork will go through, and yeah. As of tomorrow, Omegas can be part of the Enilenif army. And they won’t be segregated from the Alphas. Alphas will get extra training, and can and will be court martialed if they mistreat any Omega in their company.”

“There’s something else that needs to be done,” Louis suddenly said.

“What’s that, love?”

“We need to change the sexual abuse and rape laws,” Louis ploughed on, highly aware of Harry’s eyes on him. “If an Omega says they were raped, even if they were in heat, then the accusation needs to be taken seriously.”

Jay watched him for a moment, before she nodded.

“I’ll submit it to the correct department,” she said. “I’m sure it’ll be passed easily.”

“And I think there needs to be better education,” Louis kept going. “Alphas need to learn more about Omegas, instead of just assuming that they’re the ones who are right about everything, because they’re not --”

“Okay, okay poppet,” Jay interrupted him, gently resting a hand on his cheek. “We’ll get to it all. And soon, I promise.” She glanced over his shoulder at his troops, who were shifting awkwardly at witnessing their Captain being hushed by his mum. “I think we need to get your people through the debrief and then on their way home, so they can be with their families, don’t you?”

With a nod and a gesture behind him, they all followed Jay inside, where they were provided with food, drink, and hot showers. Shortly afterwards, they met up in a conference room for the breakdown of the events that had occurred in the clearing - all of which they all already knew, because they’d been there - before they were all officially dismissed on leave.

••••

Harry let out a heavy sigh as he slung his bag over his shoulder and stepped off of the train. Rubbing an exhausted hand over his face, he dragged himself towards the exit, mentally preparing himself for the twenty minute walk home.

“Harry!” a voice broke through his inner musings, causing him to look around quickly to try and locate it. “Over here!”

He smiled tiredly.

“Mum,” he sighed, forcing his feet into a jog across the platform to meet his Mum and Robin.

“My darling boy,” Anne greeted him happily, pulling him into a tight hug. “I’m so proud of you, sweetheart. You did such a good job.”

“You don’t even know what I did, Mum,” he mumbled into her shoulder.

“They were pretty in-depth about it on the telly,” she assured him, squeezing him gently. “Gemma got home this morning. She’s asleep.”

“But she’s okay?” Harry checked, looking at Anne as he went to hug Robin.

“She’s fine,” Anne nodded. “Promise.” She gave him a cheeky grin. “How about you? Saw photos of your Captain on the news. He looks nice.”

“Anne,” Robin said in a warning tone.

“What? I’m just saying!” Anne protested. She sniffed delicately at Harry before frowning slightly. “Did you run out of suppressants, love?”

“Had to stop taking them,” Harry admitted as they reached the car. “They were having an impact on my stamina and fitness.”

Anne waited until they were all in the car, with Robin in the driver’s seat, before she turned to look at Harry worriedly.

“Have you managed to stave off a heat?” she asked in concern.

Harry ran a hand through his hair, scratching at the back of his neck anxiously.

“Uh, not exactly,” he mumbled.

Anne shot him a critical look.

“What happened?” she asked flatly.

“I… may have gone into heat on the field, after the final battle or whatever,” he sighed heavily. “Got helped through it by Captain Tomlinson.”

“Oh, honey,” Anne sighed. “And you didn’t bring him home with you?”

“Mum!” Harry protested. “Why would I? He’s higher ranked, and probably has a dainty little Omega waiting at home for him.” Harry rolled his eyes. “It’s fine, Mum. It was probably for the best, or whatever. Got me through it quicker and all that.” He saw Anne open her mouth to ask something else, but got there first. “Don’t worry, I made sure to keep up the birth control meds, if nothing else. I’m not gonna get pregnant.”

“Will you calm down and let the boy rest, Anne?” Robin interjected. “Poor kid looks half dead on his feet, and you’re practically interrogating him.”

“I just need to know these things,” Anne sniffed softly.

She continued to ask Harry more general questions about what happened, until Robin turned the car into the driveway, pulling up behind a strange car.

“Who’s that?” Harry asked in confusion.

“No idea,” Robin frowned and then sighed. “I should’ve parked out on the road.”

“I’ll move it if it needs it,” Harry offered, slipping from the back seat.

“Thanks H,” Robin gave him a smile. “But let’s go find out who and what and why first.”

Harry grabbed his bag from the boot of the car and started towards the front door.

“Yo, kiddo, long time no see,” Gemma greeted him as she tugged open the door. “Look at you all growed up, joining the army, winning the war, and bagging yourself a gorgeous Captain to boot.”

“I didn’t bag a gorgeous Captain, Gemma,” Harry sighed. “I didn’t bag anyone. Captain Tomlinson stayed in Golden with his family.”

Gemma made a noise like an incorrect buzzer.

“That’d be wrong,” she told him firmly. “He’s currently using the loo.”

Harry’s steps faltered slightly as he stared at her.

“W-what?” He looked around at Anne and Robin. “What do you mean, he’s here? How can he be here?”

“He drove up?” Gemma shrugged. “Got here just after Mum and Robin left to go meet you. Woke me up with all the knocking and doorbell ringing.” She deliberately yawned in Harry’s face. “Like you’re the only one around here who’s been off fighting and what have you.”

“Not my fault,” Harry grumbled softly, gently pushing her into the house and following after. “Besides, you got home first, so you obviously didn’t have as far to come. Or you got released earlier. Either way, you’ve been here for ages.”

“You are so picky at times,” she retorted.

“I do so love that both of my children are home again,” Anne sighed heavily, rolling her eyes as she pushed through to the kitchen, everyone else following her. “And I’m not asking either of you what you want for dinner - you’ll have what you’re given and you’ll love it because your mother has cooked it for you.”

The sound of a throat clearing in the doorway attracted all of their attention.

“Uh, hi,” Louis lifted a hand nervously.

Harry eyed him slowly, a little surprised that Louis was actually there, and not in his uniform.

“Hey,” Harry mumbled. “Uh. What are you doing here?”

“Harry!” Anne protested.

“No, no,” Louis immediately said. “It’s a fair question. Um. Could we, uh, maybe go outside? To talk?”

Harry blinked slowly, before he nodded once and then gestured for Louis to follow him out through the back door to the garden. The pair walked down to the end of the lawn where they had a modicum of privacy from Harry’s family, who he knew would be practically falling over each other trying to eavesdrop.

“Your family has a nice home,” Louis said awkwardly, waving a hand around.

“Thanks, I guess,” Harry replied. “It’s nice enough. It’s home.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Louis nodded quickly.

“Why are you here, Captain Tomlinson?” Harry asked, stopping behind one of the trees.

“For god’s sake, Harry, please call me Louis,” Louis sighed heavily.

“Fine. Louis. Why are you here?” Harry repeated.

“I think we ended things badly,” Louis paused as Harry let out a snort of derision. “Yeah, okay, that was an understatement.” He sighed again. “I’m not very good at relationships outside of my family unit. It’s something my mum’s been on at me to do something about for years. But I’ve always been focused on my career and my family, so the mere thought of expanding that tiny bubble to include someone else, and their family, and whatever extra members we may create between us, quite honestly scares the shit out of me whenever I seriously consider it.”

“How does that explain why you’re here?” Harry asked bluntly.

“Because I felt a connection with you and I think you felt one with me, too,” Louis said in a rush.

Harry looked at him doubtfully.

“A connection?” he asked. “We literally had sex. You helped me through my damn heat. I would’ve said there was a bit more than a damn connection!”

“Okay, maybe I worded that a bit wrong,” Louis pulled a face. “I just meant…” He sighed heavily. “I want this to perhaps go somewhere. I’d… I’d like to court you.”

Harry blinked slowly, taking a half step back in surprise.

“Courting?”

“Yes,” Louis nodded firmly. “With a view to mating, marriage, and a life together. Maybe kids. But that’s a discussion for another time.” He gave Harry an almost shy smile.

“How about, we start simple, with dinner?” Harry said softly.

“Dinner sounds good,” Louis nodded in agreement.

“And then, maybe forever,” Harry added, shooting a smile over his shoulder as he led the way up through the garden. “Although I warn you now, I’m not running interference with my family. They’re gonna ask you the worst questions possible, and I’m not shielding you at all.”

“Uh…”

Harry continued to chatter away, with Louis following him dazedly, as they walked back to the house, for the first dinner of many.

**Author's Note:**

> [ [Rebloggable tumblr post](https://reminiscingintherain.tumblr.com/post/626010294413606912/) ]


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